Alongside Intel's launch of its Sandy Bridge-E processors next week, we'll be unveiling something of our own - an overhauled CPU test suite. Our last major update occurred in late 2008, so we had quite a bit to tweak, add, remove, or replace with the latest iteration. Over the course of the coming week, I'll be making a few posts in our news section like this one, explaining some of the new tests we're introducing, why they make for a great CPU benchmark, and of course, why they're relevant.

The first benchmark I wanted to talk about is also the most time-consuming and complicated: SPEC's CPU2006. Don't let the five-year-old name fool you; the benchmark received its latest update a mere two months ago. The goal here is to test both the compilation and execution performance of a machine. In addition to stressing the CPU, CPU2006 also takes full advantage of the memory sub-system and also the compiler.